Volleyball Mom: I'm learning

Here are a few things I learned this weekend about club volleyball tournaments:

1. They are equally as exciting/nerve-wracking for a parent as marching band competitions
2. You can enjoy them while not fully understanding all the rules of the game (and believe me, I do not fully understand!)
3. You can meet new parents as you cheer on your kids together
4. You should definitely bring a book for the hour-long breaks between your player's games, when her team has to referee for two other teams that you don't care much about (I'm so glad I had one!)
5. Bring snacks and drinks not only for your player, but for yourself
6. Or you can go get drink-drinks with your cousins who are club volleyball pros, and this is a better option
7. The merch table is a dangerous pit -- do not go near unless you're ready to part with a lot of dollars (of course I did)
8. You will be tired and cranky by 5pm if you don't eat any actual meal

So, we traveled across town to Kate's tournament this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday. Long days. I'm actually so GLAD that Alex had other things to do -- it was his Honor Band weekend for the county/district, so he had a whole day rehearsal on Saturday and a performance Sunday afternoon. He would have been bored at the volleyball thing, and would probably have felt a little out of place.

(I also learned that I really don't like having to miss one kid's big moments while watching another kid's. Thank goodness for video.) 

Anyway, we went, and we invited Lara and Jeff on Saturday, whose daughters played club volleyball about 8-10 years ago. That was a good call and added some fun to it for us. 

Kate's team lost every single set they played on Saturday. It was terrible! After they lost the first one, they just couldn't muster any positive energy. None of them played like they usually play! But Sunday, they managed to come back and win a match, which helped their morale a lot. It's really fun to watch them as they're learning these big sports/life lessons.

Next week is our travel weekend, and we'll go to Montgomery, AL for a 2-day tournament. Just a couple hours' drive from here, but it's exciting to stay at a hotel and all. The parents are making plans and goody bags and I hope it's a good time. 

Alex has a percussion competition (he's playing cymbals this semester in the percussion ensemble!) the same day, so Shawn will attend that instead. I really hate missing things. But I suppose it's time to start getting used to that, as the first kid prepares to leave the nest in the fall.... IF he gets in where he wants to (Georgia Tech), of course. We're waiting on pins and needles until Spring Break, I guess, when those decisions get made. 

Tonight is an 8th grade night at the high school so I'm taking Kate. So much transitioning to new things lately! Maybe that's why I feel a little ...adrift? Unsettled? Something. I can't quite get solid bearings; everything feels like it's swirling around me a little bit. I sit down to work and am unfocused. I try my best to do one thing at a time, but it's hard. 

I'm not stressed over it (yet), although I did have a stressful moment Sunday night when every group I'm part of started text threads at the same time. Band moms, Volleyball moms, basketball moms, and just regular friends, ding! ding! Ding-ding! I nearly turned the phone off altogether. And meanwhile, teens and preteens were sighing loudly at me (and speaking like teens speak to parents, which is to say, somewhat unkindly).

This is the time of our lives, right? :) 

No cooking this week! Well, I have some salmon I might make on Thursday, we'll see.